MPAA’s Dodd urges India anti-piracy action

Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has drawn attention to the threat of content piracy and its effect on the Indian movie industry, again urging technology and content interests to work together to combat the problem.

Delivering a keynote address at India’s 2012 FICCI FRAMES, with an audience of Indian government officials, film and entertainment industry leaders and key media, Dodd called for greater partnerships and alliances between the US and Indian film industries and expressed his delight at the synergies being created between both communities.

Dodd also drew attention to the threat of content theft to the industry. “Content theft threatens the health of our industry and the prospects for its future success. According to a report by Ernst and Young, movie theft costs the Indian film industry nearly a billion dollars each year and threatens more than half million Indian jobs. I bring this up not to cast a shadow on your success but rather to invite you to join us in common purpose. Content theft is a global problem and we must have a global commitment to solving it,” he declared.

He recognised that although there was a broad consensus that the community must act to stop the theft of intellectual property, adequate initiations were also needed to be in place, with the LA India Film Council identified as one such step. “This is an important opportunity for the Indian government to move forward with strong protections against online theft. We encourage the Indian film industry to reject as we have, the false argument that you cannot be pro-technology and pro-copyright at the same time and we applaud India’s aggressive plans for broadband and cable TV digitisation.”